as1one (pronounced "as one") is a pop group made up of mixed Israeli Jewish and

Palestinian Arab Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous ...

members.

History

as1one was conceived and formed by music entrepreneurs James Diener, who signed and developed

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, d ...

, and Ken Levitan, who signed and developed

Kings Of Leon Kings of Leon is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, in 1999. The band includes brothers Caleb, Nathan, and Jared Followill and their cousin Matthew Followill. The band's early music was a blend of Southern roc ...

. Beginning in 2021, the pair held auditions across cities and small villages in Israel. After thousands of auditions, they would eventually land on a six-member vocal and multi-instrumentalist group comprising Nadav Philips, Niv Lin, Aseel Farah, Ohad Attia, Sadik Dogosh and Neta Rozenblat, who would sing their music in English. The group members come from various backgrounds, encompassing the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths. as1one had been in the works for multiple years, dating back before the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In August 2023, as1one traveled to London to record at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

with

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 1 ...

. The group would later relocate to Los Angeles to continue recording their debut music, flying out on October 5, just prior to the outbreak of the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

. Neta Rozenblat said in an interview that the band members "have all lost people in this war" and that "it is really tough to see innocent people dragged into this on both sides." In the same interview, Sadik Dogosh voiced concerns about the band being forced into an "ambassador role" when they are just musicians and not politicians. Since the group's arrival in America, as1one has collaborated with multiple producers and songwriters, including

Jenna Andrews Jenna Lauren Andrews (born 1985 or 1986) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and record producer from Calgary, Alberta. She released her debut single "Tumblin' Down" in 2010, which was featured on the television show, ''Grey's Anatomy'' and charte ...

and Stephen Kirk,

Jason Evigan Jason Gregory Evigan (born June 10, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer best known as the vocalist for the rock band After Midnight Project, which was formed in 2004 before disbanding in 2012. His songwriting or producti ...

Oak Felder Warren "Oak" Felder (born November 9, 1980)Dale KawashimaSongwriter Universe, September 7, 2017. is a Turkish songwriter and record producer based in Atlanta and Los Angeles. He is known for his work as part of the production duo Pop & Oak, and ...

, Tommy Brown,

Justin Tranter Justin Drew Tranter (born June 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, singer, and activist. Tranter has written songs for artists such as Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson, Sara Bareilles, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, DNCE, ...

, Lil' Aaron, Danja and Y2K. On September 13, 2024, it was announced that as1one had signed with the label

Thirty Tigers Thirty Tigers is an American music marketing, distribution and management company for independent artists, based in Nashville. History The company was founded in 2002 by David Macias and Deb Markland and is distributed by The Orchard. In 20 ...

distributed through The Orchard. They also released their first single, "All Eyes on Us" (featuring

). Listeners criticized the song and the band's branding as disconnected from reality, with regards to the ongoing

Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip The Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip is a major part of the Gaza war. Starting on 7 October 2023, immediately after the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Hamas-led attack on Israel, Israel began bombing of the Gaza Strip, bombing the Ga ...

. Some users highlighted the similarity of "All Eyes on Us" to "

All Eyes on Rafah "All Eyes on Rafah" is a pro-Palestinian political slogan during the Gaza war and Rafah offensive, mostly used on social media. The phrase derives from a comment made by Richard "Rik" Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization's representative ...

", the viral slogan in reference to Israel's

Rafah offensive On 6 May 2024, Israel began a military offensive in and around the city of Rafah as part of Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip (2023–present), its invasion of the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war. In early May, as ceasefire negotiations stal ...

, and accused the song of drawing attention away from the conflict. Other users defended the band and said they were free to express themselves how they wished. The story of as1one is the subject of a 4-part docu-series launching on

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:as1one Pop music groups Boy bands 2022 establishments in Israel Musical groups established in 2022 English-language singers from Israel